Page 47 of Blood and Fire
“I can’t,” he said. And it was the literal truth.
Aaro made a disgusted sound. “You’re cooked, buddy. Your judgment is deep-fried in testosterone. Not a pretty sight.”
“Go earn your hourly fee and get out of my face,” Bruno said.
The slam of the van door cut off a string of obscenities, which then faded away into the distance.
The silence in the van was punctuated by Lily’s rapid breathing. The thrum of her pulse was too fast. She was shorting out. Muscling her around probably wasn’t helping, but he couldn’t stop. He was shaking, too. His heart banging, just as hard.
She pried at his wrist. Her hand was icy cold. He covered it with his, and opened his jacket, pulling her back she could soak up some skin on skin heat. The contact had its predictable effect.
He tried to keep his lust locked up in the privacy of his own head, but Lily could pluck horndog impulses right out of the airwaves with the precision of a pair of surgical tweezers. She shifted against him, moving uneasily against the throbbing heaviness in his groin.
“Sorry,” he offered. “All that talk about asses, and underwear. I’m suggestible. Plus there’s the combat buzz. Gets you ever time.”
She scowled at him through tangles of bright hair. “Just a physiological phenomenon? Nothing personal? Gee, that’s so flattering.”
He started to laugh. She winced when his hand tightened on her shoulder. He lifted it, angry at himself for having forgotten the bruise.
He pushed her coat open, and plucked the shirt down. Oh, ouch. It was bruising already. He laid his hand over it. No pressure, just warmth. “I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I wish I had some ice for you.”
She started to shrug, thought better of it. “I’m not sorry. If they’d hit your skull, you’d have gone down, and we’d both be dead. Or worse.”
“There’s worse?” He smiled. “That’s a positive way of looking at a big hematoma. You working on that glass-half-full attitude?”
She snorted. “Hardly. Speaking of attitudes. Aaro? Holy shit, Bruno. Where did you dig this guy up? He’s horrible!”
“Sorry about that,” Bruno said ruefully. “He was always sort of a clam, but today he’s totally on the rag. Still, he has the resources that I need. And did you come across his name from your research on me?”
“Nope,” she said. “Never heard of the guy.”
“That means he was the right one to call.”
They stared into each others’ eyes. The energy buzzed, hot and strained. It was wrong, stupid, irresponsible, but he leaned forward, breathing her in. Her lips parted. Her eyes had a wild, misty glow.
He kissed her. The zing of contact knocked the cage door wide open, and something big and muscular came barreling out, snorting and pawing. Something that wanted what it wanted and didn’t give a shit about the right thing. He tugged down the tattered stretch lace of her shirt, pulling until the points of her soft, perfect tits popped out. Took a whap to the face. Barely noticed it, he was so intent on tasting her nipples. Sweet and taut in his mouth. He flicked his tongue over the rigid buds, and suckled until her fingernails dug into his jacket.
He pushed her leg up onto the seat, shoved up the skirt. Didn’t have far to go. Sexy woman smell, mixed with perfumed girly bath products. Her pussy glowed from their exploits in Tony’s apartment. The gusset of the thong was lost in her plump, juicy folds. She made a breathless sound as he plucked the gusset away and took a long look, at damp ringlets, her pussy lips, poking out like a hothouse flower.
“Stop this,” she said. “I thought you wanted answers.”
“I thought I did, too,” he said. “Then I looked under your skirt.”
He wooed her into another kiss for a couple of honey sweet wet sticky minutes, until she gathered her wits and shoved at him again.
“Now is not the time, Bruno! If that guy Aaro came back while we were involved, and saw us, I’d have to kill myself just to save face!”
“How about I kill him, instead?” he suggested. “We’ll just take his van, dump him, and run. What’s one more body, more or less?”
Lily blinked at him for a few seconds. “Um. You’re kidding, right?”
Aw, shit. He flung his head against the seat, and shut his eyes. So, he really was that terrifying. How fucking depressing was that.
“Now is a really bad time to joke about that stuff, Bruno.”
“Fine. I won’t kill him.” He brushed his knuckle over the smudged mascara on her cheekbone. “Don’t be scared of me. I’m not dangerous.”
“No? Three dead guys on the ground in barely over a minute?”